Church Fathers Commentary John 8:28-30

"Jesus therefore said, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am [he], and [that] I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me; he hath not left me alone; for I do always the things that are pleasing to him. As he spake these things, many believed on him." — John 8:28-30 (ASV)

St. Augustine of Hippo: When our Lord said, "He who sent Me is true," the Jews did not understand that He was speaking to them about the Father. But He saw some there who, He knew, would believe in Him after His passion. Then Jesus said to them, When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am. Remember the words, I am that I am, and you will know why I say, "I am." I am setting aside your current understanding so that I may fulfill My passion. At the appointed time, you will know who I am: when you have lifted up the Son of man. He means being lifted up on the cross, for He was lifted up on the cross when He hung there.

This was to be accomplished by the hands of those to whom He was now speaking, who would later believe. And what was the purpose? It was so that no one, however great their wickedness and awareness of guilt, might despair when they see that even the murderers of our Lord were forgiven.

St. John Chrysostom: Alternatively, the connection is this: When His miracles and teaching failed to convert people, He spoke of the cross: When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am He. It is as if He were saying, "You think that you have killed Me, but I say that then—through the evidence of miracles, My resurrection, and your own captivity—you will know most assuredly that I am the Christ, the Son of God, and that I do not act in opposition to God. Instead, you will know that as My Father has taught Me, I speak these things." Here He shows the likeness of His substance to the Father's and that He says nothing beyond the Father's own understanding. If I were opposed to God, I would not have provoked His anger so greatly against those who refused to hear Me.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Or, consider this: Having said, Then you will know that I am, and by this phrase, "I am," having implied the whole Trinity, He immediately adds, And I do nothing of Myself, so that the Sabellian error would not creep in. This is as if to say, "I am not from Myself; the Son is God from the Father." Do not let what follows—as the Father has taught Me, I speak these things—suggest a carnal thought to any of you. Do not picture, as it were, two men before your eyes—a father speaking to his son, as you do when you speak to your own sons. For what words could be spoken to the only Word? If the Father speaks in your hearts without sound, how does He speak to the Son? The Father speaks to the Son incorporeally because He begot the Son incorporeally. He did not teach Him as if He had begotten Him untaught; rather, to teach Him was to beget Him already knowing. For if the nature of truth is simple, then for the Son, to exist is the same as to know. Therefore, just as the Father gave the Son existence by begetting Him, so He also gave Him knowledge.

St. John Chrysostom: He now gives a humbler turn to the discourse: And He that sent Me. However, so that this might not be thought to imply inferiority, He adds, is with Me. The first part refers to His divine mission, while the second refers to His divinity.

St. Augustine of Hippo: And though both are together, yet one is sent and the other sends. For the "mission" is the incarnation, and the incarnation belongs to the Son only, not to the Father. He says, then, He that sent Me, meaning, "By whose fatherly authority I am made incarnate." The Father, however, though He sent the Son, did not withdraw from Him, as He goes on to say: The Father has not left Me alone. For the Father, who fills heaven and earth, could not be absent from the place where He sent the Son. And He adds the reason why the Father did not leave Him: For I do always those things that please Him. He says "always," meaning not from any particular beginning, but without beginning and without end. For the Son's generation from the Father has no beginning in time.

St. John Chrysostom: Alternatively, He says this as an answer to those who were constantly claiming He was not from God because He did not keep the Sabbath. He says, I always do those things that please Him, showing that even breaking the Sabbath was pleasing to the Father. He takes care in every way to show that He does nothing contrary to the Father. And since this was speaking in a more human way, the Evangelist adds, As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. This is as if to say, "Do not be disturbed at hearing such humble speech from Christ." For those who had heard the loftiest doctrines from Him and were not persuaded, were now persuaded by these words of humility. These people, then, believed in Him, yet not as they should have. They believed only out of a sense of joy and approval for His humble way of speaking. The Evangelist shows this in his subsequent narrative, which recounts their unjust actions toward Him.